3 Italia, the 3G mobile operator, has been put up for sale in a move that could pave the way for its owner, Hutchison Whampoa, to shed its British sister business.

The Hong-Kong based conglomerate is understood to have sent out an information memorandum in the hope of unearthing potential bidders for the Italian division.

The move comes after a failed flotation two years ago.

The conglomerate, chaired by Sir Li Kashing, Asia’s wealthiest man, appointed banks to float up to 25 per cent of 3 Italia in a deal that the group hoped would value it at up to €10 billion (£6.7 billion).

However, many investors were sceptical about the valuation and the planned listing was cancelled in early 2006, with Hutchison Whampoa blaming market conditions for European telecoms stocks.

An auction for the Italian division could generate interest from Deutsche Telekom. Rene Obermann, the German group’s new chief executive, has expressed interest in boosting the international operations of its mobile phone division, T-Mobile. France Télécom could also be a possible contender, industry sources said.

A sale or flotation of the Italian business by Hutchison Whampoa, which is already in discussions about hiving off its transmission towers, has always been regarded as the precursor to an exit from Britain.

The divisions constitute the group’s two biggest 3G customer bases. Rumours about an attempted sale of the UK division have circulated for some time and Goldman Sachs is known to have put feelers out to any potential buyers.

Some rival operators, such as O2, the Spanish-owned mobile operator, have ruled themselves out of any auction. Peter Erskine, its chief executive, said that the 3 customer base was too low-spending to be of interest.

Last year, Arun Sarin, the head of Vodafone, one of the world’s biggest mobile operators, said that he would look at 3’s European assets if they went up for sale.

Canning Fok, the managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, retorted by telling Mr Sarin to put his money where his mouth is.

Hutchison Whampoa, which has almost 16 million customers worldwide, has spent billions of pounds acquiring licences and building up its 3G mobile businesses.

The group now has 3G operations in countries including Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Australia. However, the group was blighted by the initial failure of the “next- generation” technology to take off among consumers.

3G, which was supposed to transform mobile phones into mobile computers that would allow consumers to surf the internet on the move, is only now starting to show real promise.

3 UK had hoped to succeed on premium prices for data services rather than by winning customers through cheap voice tariffs.

The conglomerate’s recent interim figures revealed losses before interest and tax at the 3G division of HK$11.3 billion (£715 million).

In 2005, the last year for which accounts are available, 3 UK made a pre-tax loss of £1.4 billion.

3 Italia is weighing up plans with Wind, a rival operator, to sell its transmission towers to a new company in which they would keep a minority stake.

3 Italia declined to comment.

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